Text: Matthew 22: 37-40 (verse 39)
Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
Apostle Paul expounds on this in Romans 13 : 9-10 by stating: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. " Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.
As we read on in the chapter, he shows how to do this thing called loving my neighbor. I have to put on Christ. The natural man is selfish and self involved, and self serving. Mothers love their children so passionately because those children are extensions of themselves not because they love their neighbors as themselves.
It takes the Spirit of Christ, the compassion of Christ to do this as God requires, as it takes the Spirit of Christ to do right anything God requires.
How do I love my neighbor as myself? Well, how do I love myself? Loving myself involves securing my wellbeing, sometimes by any means necessary. As a matter of fact, most crimes and sins in our lives are committed in the pursuit of personal wellbeing and/or advancement.
When we are in this mode, we are primal, and focused, and think not much of the ripple effects of our actions. We just want what we want. That is the natural way of loving self. That is not God's way of loving self.
If I am to love my neighbor as myself, I must do for my neighbor what I will do for myself. Conversely, I must not do for myself what I cannot do for my neighbor.
Illustration:
I needed my friend's help. She had been praying with and for me concerning the matter but when I asked her to reach out to her contacts on my behalf, she balked. She wasn't willing to go that far for me. I asked her if she wouldn't do it were she in my shoes. Praying for me and mouthing platitudes don't count for anything if you will not put action to your show of concern. But yet, this is what we do. We claim to care but will not stretch ourselves for another.
You must be willing to put yourself in my shoes to really love me as yourself. You have to take my situation as yours otherwise you will be unable to go all the way for me. My problem has to become yours, my need has to become yours for you to effectively and practically love me. This is our duty as Christians, but this we are not willing to do.
Yet our Saviour did exactly that for us. That was the only way He could effectively and judiciously save us. He took our sins as His sins. He stood in our stead and bore upon Himself our penalty. In the eyes of justice, he committed the crimes or sins and He paid the full price. He became me, that I might become Him.
And He continues to make my problem His, my pain and shame, His. He loved and continues to love us as Himself, and we enjoy it! But we won't emulate Him, no sir.
How then can we claim to be a part of Him?
Prayer
Lord please forgive my selfishness and help me by your Spirit to begin to truly love my neighbor as myself. Help me to become like you, to die to self so you might live in and through me. In Jesus' Almighty name. Amen.
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